Everyone knows school is just around the corner, which means it’s time to go shopping for school supplies.

Even I enjoy shopping for school supplies. I get tons of fancy binders, 100 mechanical pencils, pencil cases, pens, paper, folders, rulers, fancy calculators and other stuff I don’t really need.

So, when school started, I used one folder that could hold everything. I ended up borrowing paper from other people, and my mechanical pencils disappeared one after another until they were all gone. I ended up not needing anything but a folder. I didn’t use all the other stuff.

If you go school shopping, listen to my advice. Even if it’s fun spending lots of money on school supplies, don’t overdo it — as does almost every American.

— Kelly Biswell is a student at Santa Barbara Charter School.